6:49PM: Mendoza informed reporters (together with Mike Puma of the New York Post) this night that the teenager really suffered a torn ligament in his thumb that may require surgical procedure. Mendoza added that Alvarez’s timetable for return will not be yr clear however that he’s “assured” that the 22-year-old will return to motion sooner or later this yr. Puma adds that Alvarez indicated to teammates that his timeline for return is between six and eight weeks.
1:02PM: “We know for certain it’s going to be greater than 10 days” for Alvarez’s restoration, Mendoza informed MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and different reporters. The catcher continues to be present process additional testing to examine for any ligament harm or additional accidents past only a sprain.
11:39AM: The Mets positioned catcher Francisco Alvarez on the 10-day injured checklist on account of a left thumb sprain, and chosen the contract of catcher Tomas Nido from Triple-A. In one other corresponding transfer, left-hander Kolton Ingram was designated for task to open up a 40-man roster spot for Nido. Earlier at this time, Mike Puma of the New York Put up (X link) wrote that Nido was on his option to Los Angeles, as Alvarez was anticipated to require an IL stint after leaving final night time’s 9-4 Mets win over the Dodgers.
Within the prime of the second inning, Alvarez hit an infield grounder, and Dodgers catcher Will Smith lobbed his throw over the pinnacle of first baseman Freddie Freeman. Alvarez made it to second base on the error, however put his left hand on the bottom to brace himself after stumbling on the flip round first base. Mets supervisor Carlos Mendoza told SNY and different media that the thumb downside occurred on this play, and Alvarez was changed behind the plate by Omar Narvaez for the underside of the second inning. Alvarez underwent an MRI after the sport, and Mendoza stated the workforce was “fairly involved” concerning the scenario.
After hitting .209/.284/.437 with 25 dwelling runs over 423 plate appearances in 2023, Alvarez was trying to comply with up his first full MLB season with one other step ahead this yr. The previous star prospect has hit solely .236/.288/.364 with one homer in 59 PA to this point, and it now may be some time earlier than he can enhance on that small pattern dimension. We might study extra when Mendoza addresses reporters later at this time concerning the severity of the sprain or what sort of a restoration timeline awaits Alvarez.
Narvaez and Nido will deal with catching duties within the meantime, and in Nido’s case, the number of his minor league contract will permit the veteran backstop to participate in his eighth Main League season. Nido’s entire profession has been spent within the Mets group, and he signed a two-year, $3.7MM extension previous to the 2023 marketing campaign.
The catcher continues to be owed $2.1MM on that deal for this season, and Nido may also attain 5 full seasons of MLB service time after he amasses 11 extra days on an lively roster. As soon as he hits the five-season threshold, Nido will be capable to reject an outright task in favor of free company, whereas nonetheless retaining no matter is continues to be owed on that assured wage. When New York designated Nido for task and outrighted him final June, he would’ve needed to stroll away from his wage if he had opted to show down the outright task and turn into a free agent, which undoubtedly impacted his choice to stay within the group.
Ingram was claimed off waivers from the Tigers again in February, and the left-hander has struggled badly over 4 aid appearances for Triple-A Syracuse this season. Over simply 5 innings of labor, Ingram has already issued six walks and allowed 5 hits, en path to a 7.20 ERA. Whereas management has been a priority for Ingram for a lot of his minor league profession, this spike (albeit in a small pattern dimension) in stroll fee clearly jarred the Mets sufficient to reveal the southpaw to DFA waivers.
It isn’t out of the query that one other group would possibly put in a declare, as Ingram already switched groups twice this offseason by way of the waiver wire — earlier than going from the Tigers to the Mets, Detroit first claimed Ingram off waivers from the Angels. It was with Los Angeles that Ingram made his MLB debut with 5 1/3 innings in 2023, and he additionally amassed some strong numbers over his three seasons within the Angels’ farm system. Ingram had a 30.21% strikeout fee within the minors previous to this season, however that quantity additionally plummeted to 9.5% in his temporary time with Syracuse.
